DJing G2 Tech Group’s annual NOCtoberfest is always a good time – and last night was no exception. I played a funk to hip-hop to electro set that allotted for things to go off in an elegantly weird fashion. Also, T-Rex overtook the dance floor to the delight of my airhorn.

I’m lucky to have been asked to DJ the annual NOCtoberfest Party at G2 Tech Group since it’s inception – and this year I was tasked with putting together an electro / lounge set. The following is the live set I played during this years festivities – and is a perfect mix to listen to as you boogie into the Fall.

This is not the complete set from Episode 75, but enough of a taste to get lost in the cosmic boondocks. Mint Pillow has been awed by the miracle of life with the recent birth of his son Dylan, and was also sideswiped by a recent viewing of Interstellar, a movie he expected nothing of, and got a lot from. With these states of mind Pillow delved into a space lounge set that’d be fit for any journey into the deep unknown – and is a palette he’ll likely revisit at a later date – for the time being though, enjoy this draft.

Episode 73, Sudden Sun, is a near two hour improvised set of electo, house, pysch, and weird done live in the DJ Cave at WEMF Radio by Mint Pillow. Inspired by the hope a crisp spring day can inspire, Pillow approached the show as he would a late night night DJ gig, with minimal talking, maximum grooving, and a heavy dose of experimentation.

Zac Trainor is one of the most versatile & ambitious artists I know – what sets him apart is that he’s as comfortable behind a canvas as he is behind a guitar, keyboard, or laptop. This ambidexterity allows his art to evolve together instead of being compartmentalized within each medium, creating a mosaic path that weaves consistent & familiar textures through his paintings, sculptures, and music.

On his debut EP, ATUOTS (At The Uprising Of The Sun), Trainor’s music sounds exactly like his most recent works look – ghostly, layered, & nostalgic. There’s a confident loneliness to the EP that lends the listener to self reflection. Negative space is as important as the synths – and the droning blending of textures leads to a mediative and peaceful state.

Zac is a Massachusetts native who now resides in Winston-Salem where he’s a collective member at Delurk Gallery and also teaches mixed-media painting techniques and abstract painting courses/workshops at the Sawtooth School for Visual Arts. Zac and I have made noise together in the past with Cold Bazooka – and our Iron Elbows project continues to evolve despite distance.

The Flying Lizards need the rose of history glasses gleamed their way. Cornered in the late 70’s and early 80’s as a novelty and experimental act, they’ve seen themselves remembered by time as a joke band, something like Weird Al covering Kraftwerk – but jokes they’re not, and listening to tracks like “Her Story” help me understand why I never got the joke – they’re incredible.

Labels such as DFA and Italians Do It Better are born from the same branch The Flying Lizards grew on. Their weirdo brand of punk, electronic, and new wave are what Lou Reed would have banged out of the Factory if he’d had access to synthesizers. The simple music’s off-putting, haunting, and endlessly vibing – leaving you in a stoned out hazy trance (“The Window, “Trouble”). Get strange with their deadpan & droning vocals, a four-to-the-floor beat, and enough wink, nod, and weird to make their brief catalog a pleasure to dream down.

Listening to Gap Dream’s “Chill Spot” is like lying in a hammock at the club….with weed. Daft Punk’s “Lucky” may be King as far as Summer songs go, but for my money Gap Dream’s “Chill Spot” is right there with it. “Chill Spot” doesn’t have the glossy sheen of the previously mentioned track, but there’s an undeniably pleasant warmth that coarses throughout, making the vibe easier than a cold to catch.

I’m trying to find a chill spot just to organize my mindIt’s runningAll the time